There was no question that Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan felt like he needed to address his team’s secondary during the 2023 offseason. While the team finished tied for the league lead in interceptions with 20 last season, the Steelers also gave up 3,779 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns. Only one team allowed more passing touchdowns than the Steelers last season. The defense was one of the best in terms of completion percentage, allowing opposing quarterbacks to only complete 61.2 percent of their pass attempts, good for sixth in the league.
However, opposing quarterbacks averaged seven yards per attempt against the Steelers, which tied the defense for fourth worst in the league.
So Khan attacked the secondary issues in multiple ways. He signed veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson in free agency then drafted cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr and Cory Trice Jr. Peterson wants to be a positive influence on the rookies, especially Porter, but according to Peterson speaking with Teresa Varley of Steelers.com Thursday, the rookies are having some serious influence on him.
“Those guys definitely make me feel young,” Peterson said. “Just trying to keep up with those guys. It’s tough, but I am giving it my best go. These are guys are tremendous athletes, big, strong.”
Peterson is 32 years old, the second-oldest defensive player on the Steelers behind only defensive lineman Cameron Heyward and tied with linebacker Markus Golden. Peterson is going into his 13th NFL season having played and started in 184 games. He has 111 passes defended and 34 career interceptions along with 610 total tackles. He is also extremely durable, having played a full season in every year but two. He hauled in five interceptions and defended 15 passes with the Minnesota Vikings last season, both of which are second-best for his career, second only to his 2012 season with the Arizona Cardinals.
While it can be expected that time will slow Peterson down as he gets older — he turns 33 in July — he has plenty of veteran experience and know-how to draw upon. Then you factor in getting pushed by Porter and Trice, and you can expect Peterson to continue to perform at a high level in 2023.
Peterson wasn’t kidding when he talked about the type of athletes the two young corners are. Porter ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds while showing off his explosiveness with a 35″ vertical and 10’9″ broad jump at the NFL Combine. Trice was no slouch in Indianapolis with a 4.47 40-yard dash and actually exceeded Porter’s performance with a 35.5″vertical and an 11′ broad jump. It’s no surprise that Peterson would watch those two rookies on the practice field at OTAs and work hard to match their energy and athletic ability. Suffice it to say, the mentor can even learn something from the students.
